Rehoboth residents reject Proposition 2 1/2 override

Tuesday

Jul 15, 2014 at 11:24 PMJul 15, 2014 at 11:50 PM

Marc Larocque Enterprise Staff Writer @Enterprise_Marc

Marc Larocque

mlarocque@tauntongazette.com

REHOBOTH ­ Rehoboth town government services will be stripped down to the bare essentials after voters rejected a nearly $1.7 million Proposition 2½ override during a ballot referendum held on Tuesday, town officials said.

With a 37 percent voter turnout, 1,652 voted against the $1.7 million override while 1,349 voted in favor of the measure, based on unofficial results provided by the Rehoboth Town Clerk’s Office. The vote was held after a deficit in the Rehoboth government operating budget resulted from a funding increase that was secured for the regional school district during the May Town Meeting.

The 55 percent majority vote against the Proposition 2½ override will mean real estate and property tax bills will remain relatively consistent with last year, as many voters at the polls said that they could not tolerate increased taxes, and others said that town leaders should have done a better job at preventing the outcome.

Selectmen and Finance Committee members in the town have explained that a rejection of the override would result in layoffs in town government, heavily shortened office hours for at Town Hall, shutdowns in town services like the library and the senior center, and cutbacks for police and fire services.

The referendum was called for after the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District secured $14.9 million from Rehoboth voters at the May Town Meeting, which was an increase of around $1.7 million from what was recommended by the town’s Finance Committee, largely due to $1.2 million in additional school costs assessed to Rehoboth this year after the School Committee revealed a problem with the formula used for splitting costs with Dighton earlier this year. As a consequence of the additional money allocated for the schools, the town’s $22.1 million budget was over the levy limit.

“The guys that we have elected now should have fought against it or made some adjustments somewhere so that you wouldn’t run into a situation like this,” said Manuel Reposa. “It’s like someone is trying to stick it down my throat. … It’s like walking into a barroom and there is a guy there who has been drinking whiskey all afternoon, and wants to pick a fight with me. Well, you’re picking the wrong guy.”

Many who supported the override said that the situation was unavoidable once the school secured its funding increase at the Town Meeting by legal means. While some took issue with the Town Meeting maneuver, which can not legally be reversed by a town decision, others said that this is the way Town Meeting-style government works.

“Well then, they should have gone to the meetings,” said Mary Tobin, after casting her vote at the Senior Center. “Who would ever want to come into a town that doesn’t have any services? … I think they probably don’t understand the whole ramifications.”

Arthur Tobin added that, “the property values will plummet if we don’t support the override.” Arthur Tobin said that opponents of the override don’t realize that the school committee budget was locked in at Town Meeting and that voting against the override won’t change that.

“You can’t touch that,” Tobin said. “You can vote no on this and hope it’s going to bother them, but no it’s not going to. I don’t understand how people think they are going to change the school committee thing.”

A group of School Committee members and other citizens organized in support of the Proposition 2½ override, forming the Rehoboth Community Supporters group, but the anti-tax sentiment in rural Rehoboth prevailed in the end.

“Government has an insatiable appetite for money and they never have enough money,” said Richard Crowley, after casting his vote. “They always need more money. On the other hand, their attitude regarding the taxpayer is this: The taxpayers can do with less. But the government always has to increase its own money.”

Many voters said they were unhappy about the way that the School Committee got its funding passed, and just don’t want to pay additional taxes. Crowley said supporters of the override talked like “the world is going to end” if the vote did not pass, and that town leaders should have done more to prevent to the situation.

“I understand it’s going to be significant,” Crowley said about the cuts to services. “But they should have thought of that at the time this whole thing went through.”

Erin Carrera, who supported the override, predicted that the vote would be close. Carrera said that seniors in the town, who can’t afford additional taxes and traditionally vote in large numbers, were a major factor.

“I think a lot of the seniors in town are on fixed incomes, and their property taxes going up has a direct hit on them,” Carrera said. “And they are the people who come out to vote.”

Carrera said that personally, she was willing to pay an extra $25 a month, the expected average increase for a single home tax bill. Carrera said that Rehoboth has not passed a Proposition 2½ override for 32 years.

“It looks like our town is going to be really financially strapped if we don’t override Prop 2½,” Carrera said. “I’m willing to pay an extra $25 a month, which is what it adds up to for an average home, to ensure that my fire services, and rescue services and the senior center is going to be able to remain open for seniors.”

With a rejected override, Rehoboth Town Administrator Jeffrey Ritter previously said that an additional Town Meeting would likely be held in September, to make cuts to town government spending and pass a permanent budget.